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Introduction:
One thing everyone looks for when
looking for a church is good preaching.
It may be the first thing people look for, although few people can
easily say which they weigh more of preaching, worship, music, fellowship,
ministry, and mission when looking for a ‘good’ church. I want to offer some thoughts along the line
of what constitutes a ‘good’ church, starting with preaching. Of all the ways one could classify different
preaching, I want to use the old distinction in classical rhetoric of ‘logos’
(reason) for forensic speaking (expository preaching), ethos (authority) for deliberative
speaking (topical preaching), and ‘pathos’ (emotion) for epideictic speaking
(occasional preaching—here discussed as story-telling) to identify three broad
categories for preaching. Of course, a
sermon my combine these forms, so the distinction is more about emphasis. Three Types of Preaching:1. The Expositor: Expository preaching is preaching that teaches
the Scriptures. The sermon wil…

Introduction
Decline in mainline, Protestant
denominations in the West is matched by decline in their theological
seminaries. We still live in a day when
mainline theological seminaries in the West see themselves as superior to
Evangelical theological seminaries in the West (which is demonstrably
inaccurate even on agreed criteria of academic strengths). We also live in a day when seminaries in the
West see themselves as far superior to theological education outside the West—which
raises questions about the criteria used for ‘superiority’. Even just a cursory
look at the numbers, though, shows the need to ask the question, ‘Who is going
to carry theological education forward in the 21st century?’ Putting questions about orthodoxy and health
aside, the numbers themselves show that churches outside the West, like
Evangelical churches in the West, are being put into the position of leadership
in theological education and ministerial training in Protestantism. The Episcopal Church in A…